Peseshet, who lived under the Fourth Dynasty, is often credited with being the earliest known female physician in ancient Egypt. Her title was "lady overseer of the female physicians,"¹² but whether she was a physician herself is uncertain.³ She had a son, Akhethetep, in whose mastaba at Giza her personal stela was found.⁴⁵

She may have graduated midwives⁶ at an ancient Egyptian medical school in Sais; midwifery must have existed, even though no ancient Egyptian term for it is known. Interestingly, the Hebrew Bible - while not a proven source for historical events prior to the 7th century BCE - refers to midwives in Exodus 1,16:

And he (i.e. the king of Egypt) said: When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools...⁷

References

1. ^ Plinio Prioreschi, A History of Medicine, Horatius Press 1996, p.334
2. ^ Lois N. Magner, A History of Medicine, Marcel Dekker 1992, p.28
3. ^ Sheldon J. Watts, Disease and Medicine in World History , Routledge 2003, p.19
4. ^ Giorgio Lise, Medicina nell'antico Egitto, Cordani 1978, p.41
5. ^ Paul Ghalioungui, Les plus anciennes femmes-médecins de l'histoire, in BIFAO 75 (1975), pp.159-164
6. ^ Mario Tosi, La donna nell'antico Egitto, Giunti 1997, p.79
7. ^ The Holy Bible, The British and Foreign Bible Society, London 1972

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